specializing in digital media technologies

I’ve just recently come across a piece of software called Jet Profiler for MySQL. This is a program that runs on Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows (it’s runs on Java), and comes in both a free and commercial version. Jet Profiler for MySQL is a diagnostic tool, used to analyze and report upon your database’s performance, specifically in terms of the queries run, the tables used, and the MySQL users. It also has more advanced capabilities, like reporting upon master/slave relationships, locking, threads, and so forth. One particularly interesting feature is that it doesn’t require any special server configuration; in fact, it doesn’t even need to be installed on the server. You can install the application on your desktop computer, create a new MySQL user on the server, and the software will connect through it. Software like this is another good way to better understand your database and your Web application.

One of the more common MySQL-related questions I get is how to transfer a database from one computer to another, or just how to recreate one in general. There are command-line tools that come with the MySQL server expressly for this purpose (mysqldump and mysqlimport). However, most people prefer to avoid using command-line tools, if they can. You can also use the GUI MySQL Administrator. This application has Backup and Restore options. (I write about the MySQL Administrator in my MySQL, Second Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide) book.) That’s a fine application, but you may not be able to run a GUI tool on the destination server (e.g., a hosted Web site). What I almost always use is phpMyAdmin. This Web-based PHP interface to MySQL is installed on pretty much every hosted server and you can quickly install it on your own computer as well. Here’s how you would use it… (continue reading…)

Later this year I’m going to write an e-commerce with PHP and MySQL book for Peachpit Press. This is a topic that’s often been requested by my readers and one I’m happy to finally address. I have written e-commerce chapters in my PHP 6 and MySQL 5 for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide and PHP 5 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide books, but not to this extent. Specifically, those examples were unable to demonstrate the payment gateway system, as that’s so particular to each individual situation. This new book, whose title is still being determined, will cover everything you need to know to create an e-commerce site using PHP and MySQL. I’m going to describe my intentions for the book here, then ask for any questions, comments, and suggestions that you, the potential reader, may have.

UPDATE: I’ve just posted the rough table of contents. My apologies for the delay on this and my sincerest thanks to those interested in the book!

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